Sunetra Pawar Takes Oath As 1st Female Deputy Chief Minister Of Maharashtra After Husband Ajit Pawar's Death

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Saturday, becoming the first woman to take over this post. The post was left vacant  after her husband, Ajit Pawar, passed away in a fatal plane crash in Baramati on Wednesday morning.

Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath to Sunetra Pawar in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde at Lok Bhavan, Mumbai. As Sunetra Pawar took the oath, the Lok Bhavan echoed with slogan of “Ajit Dada amar rahe (long live Ajit Dada).”

Earlier, Sunetra Pawar was elected as the new NCP Legislative Party Leader by party leaders, including Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, in a high-level meeting at Vidhan Bhavan.

PM Modi Congratulates Sunetra Pawar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Sunetra Pawar after her oath-taking ceremony, expressing confidence that she will work tirelessly for the welfare of the people of Maharashtra. In a post on X, the PM wrote, “Congratulations to Sunetra Pawar ji on beginning her tenure as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. I am confident that she will work tirelessly for the welfare of the people of the state and will carry forward the dreams of the late Ajitdada Pawar.”

Supriya Sule Skips Ceremony

Sunetra Pawar's sister-in-law Supriya Sule, who is the cousin of late Ajit Pawar, skipped the oath-taking ceremony on Saturday. MP Sule belongs to the rival NCP faction. Earlier, she met Ajit Pawar's mother in Baramati and told reporters that she is leaving for Delhi soon to attend the Budget session in the Parliament.

Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar's nephew Rohit Pawar, who also belongs to the rival NCP faction, congratulated Sunetra Pawar after she took over the post of Maharashtra Deputy CM. In a post on X, Rohit Pawar said, “I am delighted that Hon. Sunetrabai has taken the oath as the state's first female Deputy Chief Minister. Truth be told, no one can truly take Hon. Ajitdada's place, but at least in the form of Sunetrabai, we can see Ajitdada there somehow..!  With a mountain of grief weighing on our heads and all of us immersed in mourning, we don't even know how to offer them congratulations.”

NCP Factions To Merge Soon?

The untimely demise of Ajit Pawar sparked a speculation about the merger of the two NCPs - one which was led by Ajit Pawar and the other which is led by his uncle Sharad Pawar. In 2023, Ajit Pawar led a split in the NCP by breaking away from his uncle Sharad Pawar's NCP to form another faction of the party and join the Mahayuti alliance.

Reports of a merger were further fuelled when Ajit Pawar's son Parth Pawar met with Sharad Pawar at his home in Baramati.

The two factions temporarily came together for the recently-concluded local body elections in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Ajit Pawar's Fatal Plane Crash

The entire nation was left in a state of shock after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar died in a fatal plane crash on Wednesday morning. All people onboard the chartered plane were killed after the aircraft nosedived and burst into flames near the Baramati runway. Ajit Pawar was on his way to Baramati to campaign for the Zilla Panchayat elections when the crash took place. Following the crash, Pawar’s body was identified through his personal wristwatch. 

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